Ant-Man and The Wasp – Spoiler Free Review

Just shy of 1 month later than the US, Ant-Man and The Wasp has finally hit UK cinemas, but was it worth the excruciating wait? Unfortunately I don’t think it was, as the sequel seemed to do nothing to improve on the first movie. Marvel Studios are a victim of their own success when it comes to Ant-Man and The Wasp; Having pumped out such memorable movies during Phase Three that each have a distinct aura it leaves their latest venture lacking and it will likely be forgotten about in the larger than life Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The franchise again falls victim to a forgettable villain in the form of Ghost; as exciting as the visual effects are on Ghost’s movements, she quickly goes from being a villain to somebody I was actively rooting for once their motives are revealed. It’s difficult to do a superhero film without a villain to cheer against. The comedy doesn’t hit home as much as it did in the original, perhaps because we now know the characters and what to expect. As great as Michael Peña was as Luis in the original, re-using the same format of jokes in the sequel didn’t deliver in the same way.

It’s clear that Marvel Studios wanted to step away from the grand scale that has been on show in their last outings; Infinity War with the demise of the entire universe; Black Panther with the potential of an entire country being thrown into turmoil; Thor Ragnarok with the destruction of Asgard. So of course Ant-Man and the Wasp are the perfect characters for that but as a result it ran the risk of feeling like the stakes were not as high. The shining gem for me was Abby Ryder Fortson who plays Ant-Man’s daughter, Cassie, and she is adorable! Whilst I’m not a huge fan of the film, it does its extremely difficult job of being the first MCU film to follow the mind-blowing Avengers Infinity War, and offers something completely different. Be sure to stay for the mid-credits though, which is likely more important than the film itself in the over-arching MCU story. Whilst you likely won’t leave the cinema wowed, you’ll still enjoy the mini-ride the film takes you on.